Acceding to the demands of traders,Municipal Corporation has agreed to change the charges for hourly parking that were proposed for two parking lots in Sector 17 market. Shoppers will now have to pay Rs 5 for the first four hours to park their cars. They will pay Rs 10 for every hour after that.

This decision was taken in MCs Finance and Contract Committee meeting held today. The F&CC in a meeting held last month had proposed Rs 5 for the first two hours and Rs 10 subsequently for every hour. However,this was opposed by the traders.

The area councillor Pardeep Chhabra moved a fresh proposal with the demand that Rs 5 be charged for first four hours. This was taken up for discussion today and was agreed to. For two-wheelers,the rate is Rs 2 for the first four hours.

The civic body is in the midst of complete automation of the two paid parking lots. These would include the Empire Store parking as well as parking lot near Sahib Singh. With this,parking would be allowed as per availability of parking slots. Those parking would be issued an electronically produced slip displaying the time based on which the user will have to pay.

Chhabra,who is also a member of F&CC said the decision would benefit traders as well as visitors to the area. I held several meetings with traders who raised the demand that the parking rates should be Rs 5 for the first four hours. I then moved the agenda and the demand has been accepted, he said.

The traders had opposed the move to have hourly charges claiming they were already facing stiff competition from the malls. After the opening of several new malls in the city,the crowd has shifted from Sector 17 which was the main commercial hub.